Millions of UK households lack backups that would survive a lost phone or ransomware attack
Most households in the UK own a phone, a laptop and a tablet, and many have a spare drive in a drawer. Far fewer have a backup routine that would survive a dropped handset, a stolen laptop or a ransomware attack. The gap between owning a backup and having one that works is where photos, tax records and years of correspondence tend to disappear.
The problem is rarely that people do not care. Backups are set up once, trusted blindly and never checked. A drive fills up. A cloud subscription lapses after a card expires. A phone stops syncing after an update and nobody notices for months.
The 3-2-1 approach
The most widely used rule among IT professionals is known as 3-2-1: three copies of anything important, on two different types of storage, with one copy kept away from the home. It can be applied without specialist kit.
The original file on a laptop or phone counts as the first copy. A second copy might sit on an external hard drive or a network drive at home. The third should be somewhere a fire, flood or burglary at the address cannot reach, which usually means a cloud service or a drive kept at a relative's house or a workplace.
Different storage types are recommended because a single fault should not take out everything. Two copies on the same make of drive, bought on the same day, can fail in the same way.
Choosing what to protect first
Backing up everything is ideal, but starting with what cannot be replaced is more realistic. Family photographs and videos top most lists. After that come financial records, tenancy or mortgage paperwork, identity documents, work files and anything tied to a hobby or small business.
Programs, games and downloaded films can be fetched again. Wedding photographs cannot. Sorting files into those two groups before starting saves storage space and time.
Cloud services
The big phone and computer makers each offer built-in cloud backup, and several independent firms sell storage too. Free allowances are usually small and fill quickly once photo libraries are switched on, so it is worth checking what a plan covers and what happens when it runs out. Some services stop uploading silently once the limit is reached.
Cloud backup also depends on the account behind it. If the login is protected by a weak or reused password, the copies are only as safe as that password. Switching on two-step verification for the account is among the most useful steps available, as is keeping the recovery email address and phone number up to date. Losing access to the account can mean losing access to the backup.
Most providers state their data location and encryption in their terms. For sensitive documents, a service that encrypts files before they leave the device offers an extra layer, though it usually means the user alone is responsible for the password.
Local drives
An external hard drive remains the cheapest way to hold a large copy of data, and a backup to it is much faster than a first upload to the cloud. Both Windows and macOS include built-in tools that copy files to an attached drive on a schedule, so no extra software is needed.
Drives wear out. Mechanical models have moving parts and can fail without warning, particularly if knocked while spinning. Solid-state drives have no moving parts but can lose data if left unpowered for very long periods. Neither is a permanent archive, and replacing a backup drive every few years is sensible practice.
A drive should be kept unplugged when it is not backing up. A drive left permanently connected can be encrypted or wiped along with the computer if ransomware gets in. Ransomware attacks often hunt for connected backups first, which is why an offline or off-site copy matters.
Phones and tablets
Phones are often the only place where recent photographs exist. Both major mobile platforms offer automatic cloud backup of photos, messages, contacts and settings, but it is not always switched on by default and some apps keep their own separate backups.
The settings show when the last backup completed, and many handsets display a date and time. If it is weeks old, something has stopped working, whether that is a full storage allowance, a Wi-Fi setting that blocks uploads or a signed-out account.
Messaging apps need separate attention. Chat histories and shared media in popular messaging services may not be included in a phone's main backup, and each app has its own backup option, often tied to a different cloud account.
Test the restore
A backup that has never been restored is an assumption. At least once a year, a handful of files should be retrieved from each copy and opened to check they are intact. The exercise takes minutes and shows up problems such as corrupt files, missing folders or forgotten passwords while there is still time to fix them.
A calendar reminder helps. Some households tie the check to a fixed date, such as the clocks changing, so that it happens without needing to be remembered.
A simple routine
The first step is to list the devices in the house and the files on each that matter most. Automatic backup should be turned on for phones and tablets, with the last completed backup confirmed. A scheduled backup from the main computer to an external drive comes next, followed by one cloud or off-site copy of the irreplaceable material. The cloud account should be secured with a strong, unique password and two-step verification.
Once a year, a few files should be restored to prove the system works. Done in an afternoon, the routine leaves a household far better placed to cope with a lost phone, a failed drive or a locked-out laptop.
Photo: Unsplash
